While many Americans are working harder for less money and paying more for everyday items like gas and food, the rich are getting richer. Bill Moyers Journal analyzes the growing inequality gap on the ground in los Angeles where recently union workers marched to bring attention to how they are getting squeezed out of the shrinking middle class. Bill Moyers also interviews Steve Fraser, historian and author of Wall Street: America's Dream Palace, about the modern parallels and differences to the ...
Jun 13, 2008•57 min
Bill Moyers on the Democratic Party and its new nominee. Plus, there's nothing new in Scott McClellan's book about the propaganda campaign or the role of the press in selling the war, so why is it such big news? Journalists Jonathan landay and John Walcott of McClatchy newspapers and Greg Mitchell of EDITOR AND PUBlISHER analyze the reaction of the administration and the media to McClellan's book. And, the Annenberg School's Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Dr. Ronald Walters, director of the African ...
Jun 06, 2008•57 min
Bill Moyers interviews former talk show host Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro on the true cost of war and their documentary, Body of War, depicting the moving story of one veteran dealing with the aftermath of war. With extensive excerpts from the film, the filmmakers talk about Iraq war veteran Tomas Young who was shot and paralyzed less than a week into his tour of duty. Three years in the making, Body of War tells the poignant tale of the young man's journey from joining the service after 9/11 to...
May 30, 2008•57 min
A Bill Moyers essay on the recent spate of resignations of executive appointees in Washington. Then, there may be a potentially dangerous chemical leaching into our food from the containers that we use every day. BIll MOYERS JOURNAl and EXPOSE: AMERICA'S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS examine why, even though studies show that the chemical Bisphenol A can cause cancer and other health problems in lab animals, the manufacturers, their lobbyists, and U.S. regulators say it's safe. Also, Jeffrey Toobin, one...
May 23, 2008•57 min
A Democratic house divided. Bill Moyers interviews Berkeley law professors Christopher Edley, Jr. and Maria Echaveste - he's for Obama and she's for Clinton. They met working in the Clinton administration and now, having been married for nine years, Edley and Echaveste are both advising their respective candidates. Edley serves as dean and professor of law of UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of law, where Echaveste is a lecturer in residence. Also on the program, independent journalist Melody Pet...
May 16, 2008•57 min
Bill Moyers Journal profiles the fight the California Nurses Association (CNA) has been waging over universal healthcare. "There shouldn't be a double standard," says Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of CNA. "We, as the public, pay for Dick Cheney's care...why is the government not providing the same type of care to all Americans?" Also on the program, Bill Moyers interviews British law professor Philippe Sands, author of Torture Team, a new book on the approval of coercive interrogation by h...
May 09, 2008•57 min
Five years after the President declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq, Bill Moyers interviews Victor S. Navasky and Christopher Cerf about their latest book Mission Accomplished, described as a "hilarious but depressing compilation of experts who were in error about the war in Iraq." Media and politics expert Kathleen Hall Jamieson analyzes the latest from the presidential campaign. And Bill Moyers reflects on Jeremiah Wright.
May 02, 2008•57 min
Bill Moyers interviews the Reverend Jeremiah Wright in his first broadcast interview with a journalist since he became embroiled in a controversy for his remarks and his relationship with Barack Obama. Wright, who retired in early 2008 as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, where Senator Obama is a member, has been at the center of controversy for comments he made during sermons, which surfaced in the press in March.
Apr 25, 2008•57 min
Just back from being under fire in Sadr City this week, award-winning journalist leila Fadel, Baghdad Bureau Chief for McClatchy, gives viewers on-the-ground analysis of the latest events and close-up look at the state of the war. And, Bill Moyers talks with Marth Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of law and Ethics at University of Chicago, about church and state, and her newest book, lIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE: IN DEFENSE OF AMERICA'S TRADITION OF RElIGIOUS EQUAlITY.
Apr 18, 2008•57 min
As food prices go sky high and millions go hungry in America, why are tax dollars being spent on farmers who don't farm? Bill Moyers Journal teams up with the PBS series Expose: America's Investigative Reports to follow the trail of Washington Post reporters who uncovered more than $15 billion in "wasteful, unnecessary, or redundant expenditures" that have flowed from Washington to America's farmers. The broadcast also looks at shortages at America's food banks; and Bill Moyers talks with David ...
Apr 11, 2008•57 min
Bill Moyers Journal takes viewers on the ground in the Democratic Republic of the Congo-a country almost one-fourth the size of the US-to follow aid workers and local relief efforts that are bringing hope to a forgotten land. "The aid agencies are almost substituting for a social welfare system that hasn't operated in these areas for decades," says Dominic MacSorley, Emergency Director for Concern Worldwide, an international aid organization. The broadcast profiles an innovative program that emp...
Apr 04, 2008•57 min
Forty years after race riots in Detroit, Newark, and dozens of other cities stunned the nation, has anything changed? Bill Moyers interviews Newark Mayor Cory Booker for a frontline report on race and politics today. The program takes a look at an update of the Kerner Commission Report, which blamed the violence on the devastating poverty and hopelessness endemic in the inner cities of the 1960s and includes an interview with former Oklahoma Senator Fred Harris, one of the last living members of...
Mar 28, 2008•57 min
Bill Moyers interviews former talk show host Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro on the true cost of war and their documentary, Body of War, depicting the moving story of one veteran dealing with the aftermath of war. With extensive excerpts from the film, the filmmakers talk about Iraq war veteran Tomas Young who was shot and paralyzed less than a week into his tour of duty. Three years in the making, Body of War tells the poignant tale of the young man's journey from joining the service after 9/11 to...
Mar 21, 2008•57 min
Bill Moyers Journal goes beyond the rhetoric and examines the reality of waste and abuse of power in Washington with a look at the investigations being conducted by Congress's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "If no one thinks they're being watched and being held accountable, they think they can get away with anything," says Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), the Committee's chairman. Plus, viewer mail and an essay from Rick Karr on government secrecy.
Mar 14, 2008•52 min
John McCain has won the GOP nomination. Can he win the hearts and minds of the Christian right? Bill Moyers Journal reports on popular conservative evangelist John Hagee and his controversial endorsement of McCain. Hagee, leader of the politically powerful group Christians United for Israel (CUFI), has been criticized for controversial remarks about Catholics and about America's role in the Middle East. Then, Bill Moyers talks about the state and future of conservatism in light of Senator McCain...
Mar 07, 2008•57 min
As Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama make their appeals to lower-income voters in Ohio and Texas, expert on media and politics Kathleen Hall Jamieson analyzes the messages on the campaign trail in the lead up to Tuesday's potentially decisive primaries. Also on the program, historian Nell Irvin Painter examines what history reveals about the current state of inequality in America. Painter looks at today's economic disparity as a new "Gilded Age" that threatens democracy.
Feb 29, 2008•57 min
Bill Moyers Journal and the PBS series Expose: America's Investigative Reports offer a hard and fresh look at how earmarks really work. Watch a preview. The broadcast profiles Seattle Times reporters on the trail of how members of Congress have awarded federal dollars for questionable purposes to companies in local Congressional districts-often to companies whose executives, employees or PACs have made campaign contributions to the legislators. Also on the program, Sarah Chayes, author and forme...
Feb 22, 2008•57 min
Does America's $9 trillion federal debt mean we are mortgaging our future and jeopardizing individual savings, healthcare, and retirement for generations to come? Bill Moyers gets a reality check from Public Agenda's Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson, co-authors of Where Does the Money Go?: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis. Susan Jacoby, author of THE AGE OF AMERICAN UNREASON, talks about the crisis of ignorance in the U.S. and how a 'flight from reason' is playing out in American polit...
Feb 15, 2008•57 min
One of America's most prominent conservative evangelicals, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, gives his perspective on the role faith is playing in this campaign season and his take on what's happening with the evangelical vote in the primaries. Rodriguez, who has voiced his support for a moral, biblical response to the issue of immigration, is president of the National Hispanic Christian leadership Conference. And, thousands have weighed in on The Moyers Blog to suggest one book the next President should t...
Feb 08, 2008•57 min
In the week of the State of the Union address, Bill Moyers Journal goes beyond the rhetoric and examines the reality of waste and abuse of power in Washington with a look at the investigations being conducted by Congress's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "If no one thinks they're being watched and being held accountable, they think they can get away with anything," says Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), the Committee's chairman. Also on the program, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, one of the na...
Feb 01, 2008•57 min
Bill Moyers interviews John Grisham, best-selling author of The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and The Rainmaker, in a far-ranging conversation that gives viewers insight into the beliefs and background that influenced Grisham's work and provides an unexpected look at his views about the state of the nation. "I get angry when you look at our democratic system, and I wonder how democratic it really is," says Grisham, a former criminal defense attorney and former member of the Mississippi state legislat...
Jan 25, 2008•57 min
With all the talk of change coming out of the presidential campaigns, can we expect big money to lose its grip on Washington? Bill Moyers interviews NEW YORK TIMES investigative reporter and Pulitzer Prize-winner David Cay Johnston who says America's system has been rigged to benefit the super-rich. Also on the program, Bill Moyers talks with Harvey J. Kaye whose book Thomas Paine and the Promise of America channels the "the greatest radical of a radical age." Bill Moyers sits down with journali...
Jan 18, 2008•57 min
He won in Iowa and lost in New Hampshire, but what does Obama's candidacy tell us about the politics of race in America? Bill Moyers talks with Shelby Steele, who has written widely on race in American society and is author of the recent book A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win. And leading expert on media and politics Kathleen Hall Jamieson sorts spin from reality after the primary.
Jan 11, 2008•57 min
Thousands of media outlets descended on Iowa, erecting a powerful wall of TV cameras and reporters between the voters and candidates. This week on Bill Moyers Journal in two interviews, Bill Moyers talks with Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, candidates with an inside view of the process who know well the power of the press to set expectations and transform the agenda. Also on the program, leading expert on media and elections Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, e...
Jan 04, 2008•57 min
Bill Moyers interviews best-selling historian Thomas Cahill in a far ranging interview that takes viewers from the Coliseum in Rome to death row in Texas and examines what our attitudes toward cruelty can tell us about who we are as Americans. "However difficult it may be the only way you are going to gain closure is to let go of your hatred" says Cahill, who is best known for his The Hinges of History series of books, which includes the widely read How the Irish Saved Civilization. Cahill says ...
Dec 28, 2007•57 min
In the midst of the holiday spending and consumption frenzy, Bill Moyers interviews author Benjamin Barber about how capitalism isn't living up to its potential to serve society. "Capitalism is no longer manufacturing goods to meet real needs and human wants," says Barber. "It's manufacturing needs to sell us all the goods it's got to produce." Barber is the author of 17 books including international best-seller Jihad vs. McWorld and Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, an...
Dec 21, 2007•56 min
What's on Keith Olbermann's mind about the media? This week, as Rupert Murdoch takes over the Wall Street Journal and as the FCC is about to allow more newspapers to expand into the broadcast business, Bill Moyers Journal continues its reporting on media consolidation and gets insight from MSNBC's popular and provocative Keith Olbermann. The broadcast includes a report on the debate around relaxing ownership rules and looks at the real-world implications of increasing cross-ownership of newspape...
Dec 14, 2007•51 min
New media is changing the face, pace, and language of the election-what does it mean? Bill Moyers get perspective on the impact of the Web-blogs, YouTube, and social networking-on the election with Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. And with pastor and denominational leader Mike Huckabee, surging in the polls and Mitt Romney giving a widely anticipated speech on his Mormon faith, Moyers and Jamieson are joined by scholar Melissa Rogers for a discussion of rel...
Dec 07, 2007•51 min
In the wake of this week's peace summit in Annapolis, Bill Moyers Journal profiles the politically powerful group Christians United for Israel (CUFI), whose leader Pastor John Hagee wants to bring millions of Christians together to support Israel. But some say his message is dangerous: "It is time for America to...consider a military preemptive strike against Iran to prevent a nuclear holocaust in Israel and a nuclear attack in America." Bill Moyers Journal reports on CUFI and then gets theologi...
Nov 30, 2007•51 min
With the noose and the lynching tree entering the national discussion in the wake of recent news events, Bill Moyers interviews theologian James Cone about how these powerful images relate to the symbol of the cross and how they signify both tragedy and triumph. "It was the poor, black victims being lynched. In Rome time, it was poor Jews being lynched. The analogy is almost perfect there," he says. "So, how are we today going to understand what was happening to Jesus unless we see what was happ...
Nov 23, 2007•57 min
